13 Jun 2019

5 Best Ways To Landscape Around Office Buildings

by | posted in: General | 0

5 Best Ways To Landscape Around Office Buildings

 

  1. Welcoming Front Entrance

A vibrant, welcoming front entrance sets the stage for your office’s whole environment. Your office building’s main entrance is everybody’s front door. It should be warm, inviting, welcoming. A poorly maintained, grey exterior won’t be as appealing as a flower-filled, well maintained, inviting one.

The entrance is the first place people are going to see when they come to your building and therefore can improve your company’s image and make employee’s feel proud of the place they go to work every day


Some ideas for Office Building Front Entrances:

  • Planting Beds – Attractive planting beds are great for main entrances, around signage and any place you want to enhance visibility however should be low-growing varieties so they don’t block your signage and that the varieties you plant are suited to the environment around your entrance. Don’t underestimate the power of fresh plants, colourful flowers, rich mulch and a nice crisp edge.
  • Colourful Container Plantings – It’s amazing what a beautiful plant can do to catch your attention, especially when in a unique container that increases your entrance’s “wow” factor. There’s a wide array of styles that can either match a building’s style or colour or stand out to make a statement. Of course, what you put in the container matters too. You can also choose one substantial plant like a small tree or topiary; just make sure it’s always perfectly trimmed.
  • Walkways – If your office building has old cracked concrete walkways, they’re not only unsightly, they’re a dangerous trip hazard. Consider replacing portions or entire stretches of walkways with pavers that can help break up the industrial look of a long stretch of concrete. Whether your staff and clients arrive at the front door on foot or by wheelchair, maintaining the walkway is paramount. Of course, you want to make sure your visitors don’t hurt themselves and that the walkway is attractive, but it’s also a liability issue.
  • Driveway – Your property may have a traditional parking lot, or it may have a driveway very close to the entrance. Perhaps your building’s main entrance is on a cul-de-sac, with a drop-off area in front. To make the entrance more dramatic, consider using an island in the middle of the driveway as a palette, painting a picture with landscaping. Vary the landscaping height with tall and medium-size trees, and shorter shrubs as well as flower beds. Palm trees fit with the region but also don’t block the building’s view. Flowering shrubs add unexpected colour at different times of the year, while flowers complete the look at the base.
  • Signage – Every company wants their signage to be prominent and visible. Emphasise signage by planting flowers and other interesting plants around it. This will automatically draw the eye towards the signs and make them stand out more. Just make sure you keep everything trimmed so the plants don’t obscure writing on signs. Colourful flowers, interesting grasses, bright spring bulbs all attract attention.
  1. Seasonal Color Rotation

People notice colour. And what offers spectacular colour better than flowers? Change your colourful flowers with the seasons and you offer intrigue year-round. Summer colour is a given – but don’t forget the other seasons. The great thing about flowers and plants is there’s a host of choices for every season.

Interesting plants and colourful flowers make a huge impact at main entrances, around signage and any place you want to draw attention.

Different plants look good at different times of the year. When planning which plants to use, think about how the landscaping will look all year round. You don’t want it to just look great in summer – the best landscaping is appealing at any time of year.

  1. Outdoor Seating/Common Area

Create a space your employees will love. Boost worker morale by offering a peaceful, beautiful outdoor sanctuary area where employees can enjoy lunch, eat a sandwich, read a book, chat with colleagues or even hold an outdoor meeting. Outdoor meetings are increasingly common, and this kind of gathering spot is perfect for fresh-air brainstorming.

Seating can be simple picnic tables, stone benches or heavy outdoor furniture. Built-in sitting walls are great incorporated into a patio. Everybody appreciates privacy and shade so, therefore, don’t forget trees for shade and flowers for colour and interest. Consider fragrant plants and flowering shrubs to offer a bit of pleasant scent in the air, this makes it a great place to escape and recharge in nature. Consider creating different spaces for socialising and quiet reflection to give people options when they are outside.

Providing wireless Internet at outdoor sitting and picnic areas can also expand the workspace, taking employees from their desks to the outdoors for work, as well as rest.

  1. Water Features

Waterfalls and fountains are both great options, whether to attract passersby to an entrance, as water features always impress visitors, or incorporated into a common area for employees to enjoy.

Water features can be incredibly attractive and appealing and they add a nice feel to any outdoor landscape. The sound of running water is soothing and can be a great stress reliever for office employees. It relaxes and soothes away the stress of a busy work day and offers a bit of tranquillity in a hectic world.

Even a simple fountain near the front door, in a courtyard or placed in your common area for employees to enjoy makes a big and memorable impact.

  1. Don’t Forget To Freshen Up

Landscaping can look a little boring after a few years of no change. Take a look around. Have you been staring at that same row of shrubs for years? Keep things looking updated and contemporary with new flowers and grasses. A fresh layer of mulch each year does wonders to keep beds looking tidy and well-tended. And, as it breaks down, it enriches your soil. Modern landscapes typically incorporate native plants and a lot of grasses that create movement.

To keep your landscaping looking its best you’ll want to update it regularly and keep it maintained as an overgrown outside landscape won’t reflect well on your building and could be a deterrent for potential clients.

Helpful hints to Freshen up

  • Identify key visual areas – Focus on highly visible areas as a good place to start for maximum visual impact. Working in smaller areas also enables you to better manage the tasks at hand and not get overwhelmed by working on the entire area at once.

  • Take inventory – Look long and hard at each and every component of your landscape and evaluate it objectively. Keep features and plants that still look good and serve a purpose and lose the stuff that doesn’t.
  • Focus on impact – In a commercial landscape, bigger is usually better. Large elements such as commercial parking areas, retaining walls, and other features demand bigger, more colourful plants. The impact is all about size, colour, and diversity in plantings.
  • Focus on long-term maintenance – Carefully choose plants and features to fit the environment and its conditions. Plants that don’t adapt easily to their surroundings will cost a lot more, in the long run, to maintain or replace.
  • Focus on people – Commercial landscapes and people interact in many different ways and so it’s important to design and plant with people in mind: how will different areas look from different perspectives? What will people see when they first drive into the parking lot, walk on the sidewalk, and look out windows?

The challenge is to create a landscaped environment that is beautiful and appealing in its form while offering functionality and a solid return-on-investment.

 

 

Sources:
OutbackLandscapeInc
TheGardenContinuum
LevelGreenLandscaping
GreenearthLandscapes
Pixabay
enhance services

 

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About Liesel Du Preez

My journey with Leads 2 Business started in August 2005 in the Africa Tender Department, where I researched and uploaded Africa Tender Notifications. Once the Africa Tender Department had grown I was then promoted to Customer Relations in the IT Department in January of 2010, assisting subscribers and staff with any problems they may encounter or with any queries they may have.

12 Nov 2018

10 Things to Remember When Buying Insurance

by | posted in: Did You Know | 0

10 Things to Remember When Buying Insurance

There are a lot of insurers out there with different policies, and this can make it overwhelming when looking for a policy that suits you and your needs.

1. Research a Reputable Insurance Company:

Protecting you and your family’s assets and financial well-being is something that you depend on your insurance company to do without question. However, you can’t trust your family’s future to just any company without checking it out first. There are hundreds of insurance providers in the market. It’s important to choose one with a proven track records, from reputation in the market (awards and reviews) to customer service to claims history.

Therefore, gather as much information as possible on both good and bad experiences from others: Speak to friends, browse the web, read forums, you would be surprised at how much information is available if you just ask.

2. Shop and Compare:

Thankfully, insurance comparison shopping is not as difficult a task as it once was, as the internet today can be a valuable source of helpful information. You don’t need to physically go from agent to agent or even online from company to company to find the best value on an insurance policy. By using insurance comparison websites, you can obtain a few quote comparisons in order to compare and help you to make a more informed decision. There are many great insurance comparison shopping websites out there for example www.hippo.co.za and others.

3. Discount Advantages:

Insurance needs can be an expensive undertaking especially in today’s economic climate. Therefore, take advantage of possible common discounts that can help you find the best value on an insurance policy. These could include multi-policy discounts, safe driving discounts, home ownership discounts, discounts for safety devices installed, and many more. There may even be hidden discounts not readily seen on a website or that your agent tells you about, however it is worth enquiring about to save on costs and achieve maximum benefit.

4. Cheaper Is Not Always Better:

Cheaper insurance prices can unfortunately also mean lower customer service and claims, not to mention a lower degree of coverage and payout. Always bear in mind that there is sometimes truth in the saying that you often get what you pay for.

5. Ask the Agent for a Best Offer:

If you are using an insurance agent instead of buying directly from an insurance company, he may be giving you what he thinks is a good deal on an insurance policy. However, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you can get a better price or perhaps a more comprehensive coverage package plan. Independent insurance agents often represent many different companies and would have more quotes for comparison than a “captive agent.” A captive agent is one who only represents one company and will only offer you the policy options from the company he represents.

Once given a final price, if that isn’t good enough, tell the agent so. Your agent may be able to go back to the insurance company and ask if a lower rate is available.

6. Your Agent does not make the Final Decision:

Insurance agents, for the most part, give good advice about the policy and coverage options you need. After all, most insurance agents receive insurance licensing and training that makes them qualified to give sound advice. However, there are abundant resources available to you if you feel you need to research your options further. It is best to make the best choice for coverage options now than to be sorry later when you have a claim and are underinsured and do not have the right coverage. Then it is too late to get the right policy.

7. Upgrade Policy at a Later Stage:

There may be occasions when financial restraints prevent you from getting the coverage options you want and or need. Enquire as to whether, once you are more financially steady, if you can upgrade your policy to include a more comprehensive coverage package, just in case this is a viable option for you at a later stage.

8. Tell the Truth:

Did you realize that an insurance company is not legally obligated to honour your policy and pay claims if you knowingly misrepresented the truth on your application? For example, such as lying about how many speeding tickets or accidents you’ve had in the past. Getting a cheaper premium is not worth the risk of the company cancelling your policy or refusing the cover because you misrepresented the truth.

9. Coverage Is Not Always Automatic:

If you buy a new vehicle or add additional structures to your property, they may be automatically covered for a time. However, there can also be a time limit to this coverage. Normally, you have a specific time frame, perhaps 30-days (this could be more or less depending on your company) to contact the insurance company and let them know of your purchase or addition. The same goes with trading in a vehicle for another one. The coverage will transfer to your new vehicle, but only temporarily, unless you notify your insurance company, and sometimes not at all. Ensure you have investigated and understand all possibilities to avoid any unexpected surprises in the ‘fine print’ later down the line.

10. Re-evaluate Your Coverage:

Life changes come to all. When you have a significant life change, such as a major purchase, a move, getting married, getting divorced, having children, etc.; it is likely that this will affect your insurance coverage and you may need to update your coverage. Even if you’ve had no major life events, it is still a good idea to do an annual policy check-up with your insurance agent and make any necessary changes.

Finding the best coverage to protect you and your family from whatever life may throw at you doesn’t have to be a difficult or confusing process. Use all the tools and resources you can find to make finding the right coverage a smoother process.

A little homework and research will go a long way to giving you and your family the peace and security you deserve.

 

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Source:
The Balance

 

 

About Liesel Du Preez

My journey with Leads 2 Business started in August 2005 in the Africa Tender Department, where I researched and uploaded Africa Tender Notifications. Once the Africa Tender Department had grown I was then promoted to Customer Relations in the IT Department in January of 2010, assisting subscribers and staff with any problems they may encounter or with any queries they may have.

28 May 2018

11 Largest Metro Systems In The World

by | posted in: Did You Know | 9

11 Largest Metro Systems In The World

There are over 165 distinct systems that can be referred as metro system, subway systems or underground systems. Their size can be measured by a number of factors – number of users, total length of rails or number of stations. The below being some of the world’s largest metro systems:

1. New York City Subway, NYC, United States
• Total Stations: 472 stations – (424 if stations connected by transfers are counted as single stations) of stations.
• Total Length: The NYC subway has a total length of 373 km (232mi) – 4th in the world. Overall, the system contains 236 miles (380 km) of routes, translating into 665 miles (1,070 km) of revenue track; and a total of 850 miles (1,370 km) including non-revenue trackage.
• Interesting Facts: Opened in 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world’s oldest (8th oldest to be exact), public transit systems, one of the world’s most used metro systems, and the metro system with the most stations.
• Users: 1.7 billion riders every year

 

2. Paris Métro, Paris, France
• Total Stations: 303 stations (62 of which have transfers between lines)
• Total Length: It’s 303 stations spread over 214 km (133 mi). The Métro has 214 kilometres (133 mi) of track and 303 stations, 62 connecting between lines, not including the RER network.
• Interesting Facts: The Paris Métro opened in 1900 making it the 5th oldest metro system in the world. The system expanded quickly until the First World War and the core was complete by the 1920s.
• Users: Over 1.5 billion riders every year

3. Madrid Metro, Madrid, Spain
• Total Stations: 300 stations
• Total Length: With almost the same number of stations as Paris and even a larger total length – 293 km (182 mi). But on top of that is another 386 kilometers of suburban rail services.
• Interesting Facts: The Madrid Metro was first opened in 1919. The Madrid Metro has 1,698 escalators, the most of any system in the world and has 522 elevators. The underground stations are so huge that they can hold public events, such as the three-day fitness festival in May 2011, which attracted 2,600 visitors. One station contains a 200-square-meter archaeological museum.
• Users: 500 million riders every year – least number of riders between all the metro systems listed

 

4. Seoul Subway, Seoul, South Korea
• Total Stations: 296 stations
• Total Length: It has total length of 327.0 km (203.2 mi)
• Interesting Facts: TheSeoul Subway opened much later than the previous systems – in 1974. Seoul’s metro system has TV’s, heated seats, cell phone service and are climate controlled. Its first metro line, Line 1, started construction in 1971 and opened in 1974, with through-operation to Korail suburban railways. Today, the network is one of the largest and most efficient urban railway systems in the world, with 331.5 km (206.0 mi) of track on lines 1–9 alone; wireless and internet service on all trains; and platform screen doors at the majority of stations. It also has real-time train information at every station.
• Users: Second largest number of riders of over 2.5 billion every year

 

5. London Underground (“The Tube”), London, England
• Total Stations: 270 stations
• Total Length: It is the third longest system with 400 km (250 mi).
• Interesting Facts: The famous London Tube first opened as an “underground railway” in 1863, but the first electric line opened in 1890 making it the world’s very first metro system. The Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the first public transport system in the world to do so. The system’s first tunnels were built just below the surface, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube were dug through at a deeper level. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface.
• Users: More than 1.2 billion every year

6. Shanghai Metro, Shanghai, China
• Total Stations: 393 stations
• Total Length: 644 km (400 mi)
• Interesting Facts: Considering it only opened in 1993, with full-scale construction extending back to 1986 (Shanghai Metro). Shanghai Metro is also one of the busiest systems in the world. On 16 October 2013, with the extension of Line 11 into Kunshan in Jiangsu province, Shanghai Metro became the first rapid transit system in China to provide cross-provincial service and the second intercity metro after the Guangfo Metro. Further plans to connect the Shanghai Metro with the metro systems of Suzhou are under active review, with the first line connecting Shanghai Metro Line 11 and Suzhou Metro Line 3 projected to be completed in 2023. Ambitious expansion plans call for 25 lines with over 1,000 km of length by 2025. By then, every location in the central area of Shanghai will be within 600 meters of a subway station.
• Users: Over 3.53 billion every year

 

7. Beijing Subway, Beijing, China
• Total Stations: 370 stations
• Length: 608.2 km (377.9 mi) [If not counting Xijiao Line, 599.4 km (372.4 mi)] • Interesting Facts: The Beijing Subway opened in 1969 and is the oldest metro system in mainland China. Before the system underwent rapid expansion since 2002, it only consisted of only two lines. The existing network still cannot adequately meet the city’s mass transit needs. Beijing Subway’s extensive expansion plans call for 999 km (621 mi) of lines serving a projected 18.5 million trips every day by 2021. The most recent expansion, which included a one stop extension of Fangshan Line and the opening of Xijiao Line, S1 Line and Yanfang Line came into effect on December 30, 2017. There are currently over 300 km of subway under construction in Beijing, including six new fully automated lines totaling up to 300 km (190 mi) in length using domestically developed communications-based train control systems. This could potentially create the longest fully automated subway network in the world.
• Users: Beijing Subway is the busiest metro system in the world with over 3.2 billion users every year

8. Mexico City Metro, Mexico City, Mexico
• Total Stations: 195 stations
• Total Length: spread over 226.5 km (140.7mi)
• Interesting facts: The first stage of construction (1967–1972) comprised the construction and inauguration of lines 1, 2 and 3. Ten of the lines are rubber-tyred; instead of traditional steel wheels, they use pneumatic traction, which are quieter and cope better with Mexico City’s unstable soils. The system survived the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. Many stations are named for historical figures, places, or events in Mexican history. The Metro has figured in Mexico’s cultural history, as the inspiration for a musical composition for strings, “Metro Chabacano” and the 1982 Rodrigo “Rockdrigo” González’s 1982 song, “Metro Balderas.” It has also been a site for the 1990 Hollywood movie Total Recall. During the first stage of construction, workers uncovered two archaeological ruins, one Aztec idol, and the bones of a mammoth.
• Users: 1.6 billion riders every year.

 

9. Delhi Metro, Delhi, India

• Total Stations: 214 Stations (including 6 on Airport Express line and interchange stations).
• Total Length: 296.1 kilometres (184.0 mi)
• Interesting Facts: The system has a mix of underground, at-grade, and elevated stations using both broad-gauge and standard-gauge. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was certified by the United Nations in 2011 as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city.
• Users: 1.0 billion riders every year

 

10. Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia
• Total Stations: 214 stations
• Total Length: 364.9 km (226.7 mi)
• Interesting Facts: The Moscow metro system opened in 1935 with one 11-kilometre (6.8 mi) line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2018, the Moscow Metro excluding the Moscow Central Circle and Moscow Monorail has 214 stations and its route length is 364.9 km (226.7 mi), making it the sixth longest in the world. The Moscow metro is not just another metro system. The stations are known as “Underground palaces”. The beautiful underground structures are designed with care: with pictures on the walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and more. The stations of the Moscow Metro are a major tourist attraction on their own. Some of the most beautiful stations are Komsomolskaya Metro Station, Kievskaya Metro Station, Prospekt Mira Metro Station, Park Pobedy Metro Station, Novoslobodskaya Metro Station, Mayakovskaya Metro station. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section 84 metres (276 ft) underground at the Park Pobedy station, one of the world’s deepest.
• Users: Almost 2.5 billion people every year.

 

11. Tokyo Metro, Tokyo, Japan
• Total Stations: 179 stations
• Total Length: 195.1km (121.2mi) excluding the 8.3 km stretch between Wakoshi and Kotake-mukaihara shared with Yurakucho Line
• Interesting Facts: Tokyo Metro is operated by Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd., a private company jointly owned by the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan government. The company replaced the Teito Rapid Transit Authority commonly known as Eidan or TRTA, on April 1, 2004. TRTA was administered by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and jointly funded by the national and metropolitan governments. It was formed in 1941, although its oldest lines date back to 1927 with the opening of the Tokyo Underground Railway the same year. According to the company, an average of 6.33 million people used the company’s nine subway routes each day in 2009, making the company a profit of ¥63.5 billion for that year.
• Users: The Tokyo Metro is used by 14 billion people every year

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul_Metropolitan_Subway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Subway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Metro

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My journey with Leads 2 Business started in August 2005 in the Africa Tender Department, where I researched and uploaded Africa Tender Notifications. Once the Africa Tender Department had grown I was then promoted to Customer Relations in the IT Department in January of 2010, assisting subscribers and staff with any problems they may encounter or with any queries they may have.

24 Jul 2017

Did you Know #DYK: Top 10 Green Heating & Cooling technologies

by | posted in: Did You Know | 2

Top 10 Green Heating & Cooling technologies

Top 10 Green Heating & Cooling technologies

Compared to the usual standard heating and cooling systems, going green is better for the environment helping to eliminate greenhouse gasses. Furthermore, these green systems also help people save money on their energy needs.

 

Below are some Green Heating and Cooling Technologies which are worth a mention:

1. Geothermal – Within the earth, there is a lot of heat in the form of hot water and steam. The deeper you go, the hotter it is. But you don’t have to go too deep to take advantage of this energy. A few feet below the surface, the temperature of the water remains constant all year round. Geothermal systems don’t tap straight into the earth’s heat, rather, geothermal homes use heat pumps to utilise the constant temperature of geothermal underground wells. The heat pumps contain a fluid, which could be either water or a refrigerant. When cold outside, the fluid absorbs the earth’s heat and brings it inside to warm the air. In summer, the heat exchange works the other way around thereby cooling the house.

 

2. Solar (Passive) – The sun is the ultimate provider of green energy, is constant, renewable and won’t run out anytime soon. Passive solar energy is simple, has little to no moving parts and requires minimal upkeep. Passive solar-energy systems are designed to use natural principals of heat transfer instead of machines such as furnaces and air conditioners. Passive solar technology uses the building’s walls, windows and floors to collect, store and release the sun’s energy. However, passive solar homes still need mechanical equipment, such as a forced-air system or radiant flooring to keep the temperatures cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The easiest passive solar design systems to install are called “direct gain”. In direct gain systems, sunlight passes through windows and then converted into thermal energy. The walls and floors directly absorb and store the heat energy. As long as the room temperature is high, the interior of the home will hold onto the heat. When the temperature drops at night, the stored heat radiates through the living space. Builders can also install plastic or metal water pipes inside a wall. When the sun hits the walls, the water in the pipes heat up and is then pumped throughout the house as a source of heat.

Source

3. Solar (Active) – Solar cells contain photovoltaic materials, which convert sunlight directly into electricity. Solar cells capture tiny photons of light and release electrons. When these fast-moving electrons are captured, the result is an electric current that can be used to light a bulb or power a machine. That electricity can then be used to heat, cool and light a house. There’s one problem however, they convert only a percentage of sunlight into energy. In addition, such photovoltaic systems can be expensive. There are cheaper active solar heating systems on the market which use liquids, including water, or air. In these systems, the liquid or air is able to absorb the sun’s energy through a collector which then transfers the sun’s heat directly to the home or into a storage system where it is then dispersed throughout the house.

 

4. Biomass – This refers to energy which comes from living things, such as trees and plants. The energy from biomass is natural and renewable. The plants, or other organisms, absorb energy from the sun. Biomass heating systems take that stored energy and convert it into heat energy. Biomass is sustainable and cheaper than fuel oil, propane and natural gas. Modern large-scale biomass systems burn clean. For example, a woodchip system emits fewer pollutants than a wood stove. Biomass systems do not produce as much carbon dioxide as fossil fuels. When burned, fossil fuels release carbon that was once trapped inside earth. When biomass is burned, it releases only the carbon the plant would have released upon its death.

Source

5. Biodiesel – Refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, soybean oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters. Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone or blended with petrodiesel in any proportions. Biodiesel blends can also be used as heating oil. The so-called BioHeat blends contain 5 percent, 10 percent or 20 percent biofuel mixed with heating oil. Can be used in an oil furnace. BioHeat releases fewer pollutants.

Source

6. Ice-powered Air Conditioners – A new company called Ice Energy has developed a system which converts water to ice and then uses the ice to cool refrigerant instead of the unit’s compressor. The way it works: At night, the unit freezes 450 gallons (1,703.81 litres) of water by circulating refrigerant through a system of copper coils. The water that surrounds the coils turns to ice, which is then stored. As temperatures rise the next day, the existing air conditioning unit stands down and the ice, rather than the air conditioning unit’s compressor, cools the hot refrigerant, which keeps the building temperature nice and comfortable and cuts overall energy consumption by about 30 percent

Source

7. Hydronic Heating Systems – Hydronic Heating systems are the use of a liquid heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems. The working fluid is typically water, glycol or mineral oil. Some of the oldest and most common examples are steam and hot-water radiators. Nowadays, hydronic heating systems are more sophisticated and use hot water piped through tubes that run under floorboards, through radiators or along base boards. In hydronic systems, boilers heat liquids using solar energy and geothermal energy. Most of these boilers heat water, but some systems warm other liquids, such as antifreeze. The liquid is pumped through plastic tubing into a heat exchanger, such as a radiator. In a hydronic system, heat is transferred in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation. During conduction, heat energy moves from object to object, such as a spoon in a pot of hot water. When you touch the spoon you can feel it get warm. Radiation is the transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves. You can feel heat radiation from a heat lamp. Boiling water is an example of convection. During convection, warm water rises while the cooler water sinks.

Source

8. Absorption Heating and Cooling Systems – These are not driven by electricity, but by solar power, geothermal power or natural gas, with natural gas being the most common fuel. Absorption heat pumps work just like any other heat pump. There are however, two main differences. First, the absorption heat pump is driven by a natural gas burner instead of electricity. The second difference is that absorption pumps use a water-ammonia solution instead of a refrigerant. During the winter, that solution absorbs the earth’s heat and the pump moves the heated liquid into the house to warm the air. In the summertime, the heat exchange works in reverse.

 

9. Green Coal – Coal might seem like one of the environment’s worst enemies. Coal contains 25 to 90 percent carbon, which, when burned, creates noxious greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur and nitrogen oxide which are responsible for global warming. Using a process called gasification, scientists found a way to use the carbon in coal to strip oxygen from water, which produces clean-burning hydrogen gas for fuel. That gas can then be used to run a turbine, which produces electricity. The emissions from the process are then pumped underground, while other pollutants are converted into solids that can be burned. Therefore “Gasification” uses the carbon in the coal to bond to the oxygen in the water, which produces hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel. Waste is solid, and can then be buried

Source

10. Wind Power – We all know that wind can generate power, but did you know that you can harness the power of wind to generate heat and you don’t even need a huge windmill in your backyard to make it work. The only requirement is enough wind to spin magnets, which heats a copper plate, which in turn heats the water. Unlike other water heaters that use electrical heating elements or open flames, the wind turbine is completely sustainable and can be bolted to a home’s rooftop, or some other location where the wind blows. The key is that there needs to be enough wind to spin the turbine.

Source

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Source: http://www.jimlavalleeplumbing.com/news/top-10-green-heating-and-cooling-technologies/

 

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To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.

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About Liesel Du Preez

My journey with Leads 2 Business started in August 2005 in the Africa Tender Department, where I researched and uploaded Africa Tender Notifications. Once the Africa Tender Department had grown I was then promoted to Customer Relations in the IT Department in January of 2010, assisting subscribers and staff with any problems they may encounter or with any queries they may have.